SPAIN’S NEW YEAR EL NIÑO LOTTERY SPREAD €560 MILLION AMONG LOTTERY PLAYERS

On Tuesday, January 6th, an annual lottery took place in Spain, one that is almost as prestigious as the annual Christmas Lottery.

The “El Niño” lottery game, which translates to “the Child” in English, is held every year on the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6th, and there are 400 top prize tickets each worth €200,000. This year, as Spain is struggling to come out of a financial crisis that has left many people unemployed or even homeless, the lucky winners will be deemed the most worthy as it emerged that all of the winning El Niño tickets were sold in Leganes, a suburb in southwest Madrid which is typically working class.

In a store where €80 million worth of winning El Niño tickets were sold, the lottery seller told officials that he was delighted that so many winners were found in that one particular district. “Horns are blowing, the phone doesn’t stop ringing, it’s crazy and a huge, huge joy because it has all been sold among neighbours in a very working class district,” Gustavo Fernandez said.

Other than the top prizes, the smaller El Niño prizes were spread much further throughout Spain as provinces including Albacete, Almeria and Barcelona all found lottery winners. The pot for the game is divided amongst the players to a point where the top prizes are limited, but the funds are able to be spread more widely.

The January 6th El Niño lottery is held on that date every year and it is commonly thought that since according to the Christmas tradition, the baby Jesus was visited by the three Wise Men on that day, this is why the name “El Niño” was put forward. However, “El Niño” is not the most lucrative lottery in Spain, with the country’s Christmas lottery taking the forefront.

The Spanish Christmas lottery, also known as “El Gordo de Navidad”, is held every year just before Christmas, on December 22nd, and distributes almost €2.5 billion in prize money to lucky ticket holders. Lottery games appear to be something that Spain can hold on to at the moment, since after two recessions in recent years, the country is still recovering from economic onslaught, and lottery winners will undoubtedly be more than grateful for their prize money.

You may try your luck at one of the Spanish lotteries we offer on our website and play online at Lottery24.com.